Swift tour in Tel Aviv to include: (1) Swift “Living Wall” at Catzenelzon School; (2) IDF Headquarters to learn about the Nature Defense Forces and their connection to Swifts and heritage sites; (3) Schiff House with online cameras in Common Swift nests

Open discussion including voting for the 2020 International Conference location

13:00 –

Lunch and free afternoon & evening in Tel Aviv-Jaffa

March 16th

Optional tour to see the Griffon Vultures in Mt. Carmel and Little Swifts nesting in the Hula Valley in north Israel as well as many more local and migrating birds [PRICE: €40 including bus and professional guide]

March 17th-20th

Optional 4-day tour (3 nights) from Tel Aviv via the Negev to Eilat to view the amazing bird migration as part of the Eilat 2018 International Spring Migration Festival; accommodation at Eilat's excellent Agamim hotel; price includes half board, bus, professional guides and participation in all the festival events [PRICE: €755 per person in double room / €1,065 per person in single room]

A small number of people have not confirmed. If you are not on this list and you think you should be, or, if you find any errors in this attendee list, please contact Sorrel Ritter, conference coordinator, at Yossi Leshem's office: yleshem@post.tau.ac.il.

We are delighted to share with you the almost final program of the 5th International Swift conference, after the conference committee approval (see hereunder).By now we have 89 registered participants and we are hoping to reach 100!

We are really excited to host all of you in March 2018 in Israel and we wish you all a Happy New Year!

Swift tour in Tel Aviv to: (1) IDF Headquarters and Sarona to learn about the Nature Defense Forces and their connection to swifts and heritage sites; (2) Nesting boxes at the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) directorate building and walk to Schiff House with online cameras in Common Swift nests

St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, Muristan, The Christian Quarter – The Tree of Hope – the olive tree swift sculpture and closing event with dinner and Middle Eastern music.

Thursday, March 15th

07:00–08:30

Breakfast

09:00–09:30

Mauro Ferri: Swift artificial nests since medieval times

09:30–09:50

Kevin Prince: X-ray fluorescence study on Swifts' feathers

09:50–10:10

Kasia Szczypa: Vitamin B deficiency and hand rearing Swifts

10:10–10:40

Coffee break

10:40-13:00

Open discussion incl. voting for the 2020 Intl. Conference location

13:00 –

Lunch and free afternoon & evening in Tel Aviv- Jaffa

March 16th

Optional tour to see the Griffon Vultures in Mt. Carmel and Little Swifts nesting in the Hula Valley in north Israel as well as many more local and migrating birds

PRICE: €40 (including bus and professional guide)

March 17th-20th

Optional 4-day tour (3 nights) from Tel Aviv via the Negev to Eilat to view the amazing migration as part of the Eilat 2018 International Spring Migration Festival; accommodation at Eilat's excellent Agamim hotel; price includes half board, bus, professional guides and participation in all the festival events

PRICE: €755 per person in double room / €1,065 per person in single room

The FIFTH INTERNATIONAL SWIFT CONFERENCE is happy to invite visual artists to submit works for a juried exhibition to be held during the week of the conference in Tel Aviv, Israel. Submitted work can include visual arts such as original paintings, drawings, printmaking and photography that deal with swifts. Your submission must be your original creation. Works to be exhibited will be selected by a judging committee by 30 December 2017, and should then be sent to Israel ahead of the exhibition by 30 January, 2018. Photographs selected should be printed to size 40 x 50 cm, and all artwork and photography will be returned at the end of the conference.

Please send a high-quality digital image of your work (maximum 1 MB) along with title, size, and media to Sorrel Ritter at yossile@tauex.tau.ac.il.

14:30 – 18:00 Swift tour in Tel Aviv to: (1) IDF Headquarters and Sarona to learn about the Nature Defense Forces and their connection to swifts and heritage sites; (2) Nesting boxes at the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) directorate building and walk to Schiff House

19:30 Free evening in Jaffa

Wednesday, March 14th

06:00 – 23:00 Tour to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea: * Jerusalem Bird Observatory – ringing station in the Israeli Parliament grounds * Wadi Kelt (a gorge in the Judean Desert between Jerusalem and Jericho) to see three swift species: Alpine, Little and Pallid Swifts* Swifts Welcoming Ceremony at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem Greetings [not yet confirmed]: MK Tzachi Hanegbi – Minister of Regional Cooperation Mr. Reuven Rivlin – President of Israel * St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, Muristan, The Christian Quarter – The Tree of Hope – the olive tree swift sculpture and closing event with dinner and Middle Eastern music

Thursday, March 15th

09:00 – 10:00 Invited speaker

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break

10:30 – 12:00 Open discussion and conference summary

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch break at hotel [please note on registration form]

12:00 Free afternoon and evening in Tel Aviv

March 16th Optional tour to see the Griffon Vultures in Mt. Carmel and Little Swifts nesting in the Hula Valley in north Israel as well as many more local and migrating birds PRICE: €40 (including bus and professional guide)

March 17th-20th Optional 4-day tour (3 nights) from Tel Aviv via the Negev to Eilat to view the amazing migration as part of the Eilat 2018 International Spring Migration Festival; accommodation at Eilat's excellent Agamim hotel; price includes half board, bus, professional guides and participation in all the festival events PRICE: €755 per person in double room / €1,065 per person in single room.

We are planning to divide the lecture sessions according to topic (e.g. flight, food, weather, swifts and the community, population genetics, tracking methods, swifts as peacemakers, swifts and religion). If you have proposals for topics, please write to us.

Please send us an abstract of maximum 300 words and the topic of your lecture/poster by October 1st 2017.

At the Fourth International Swift Conference in 2016 at Szczecin, Poland, it was decided to hold the Fifth International Swift Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.

This is the first time the conference will be held outside Europe and we are very proud to have received this opportunity to host it, and expand the discussion beyond the European borders by inviting lecturers and participants from Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and additional North African countries.

We hope to use the swifts as messengers of peace to expand regional cooperation and as you surely would agree, they are the perfect candidates!

We are sure that besides the interesting lectures, you will have a unique and unforgettable experience visiting our small country, rich with many swift and bird species. 540 bird species can be observed in Israel, and 500 million birds migrate over the country twice a year – March is the peak of the migration season.

You can of course book your own accommodation in additional hotels/hostels in the vicinity of the conference hotel via the Internet, for example: Old Jaffa Hostel - Milk & Honey Hostel (www.facebook.com/milkandhoneyhostel / milkandhoneyjaffa@gmail.com / tel. +972-3644-4316)